Rahimi loses the first leg of the AFC Champions League final

The Emirati club Al Ain, in the presence of Moroccan international player Sofiane Rahimi, wasted an early lead and returned losing from Japan’s Yokohama Marinos in the last minutes 1-2, today, Saturday, in the first leg of the final of the last edition of the AFC Champions League in football in its current form.

In front of 55,000 spectators, young midfielder Mohamed Abbas opened the scoring for Al Ain (12), before the host responded at the end of the second half through Asahi Uenaka (72) and Kota Watanabe (84).

The return match will be held next Saturday at Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, noting that the champion of the competition reserves the last fourth place for the Asian continent in the 2025 Club World Cup in its expanded form, joining Al Hilal Saudi Arabia, Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan, and Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea.

Al Ain, led by Argentine coach Hernan Crespo, hopes to end its participation in the last edition of the AFC Champions League in its current format with a crown, as he did when he launched his career in it. In 2003, he won the title of the first edition of the AFC Champions League at the expense of Tero Sasana of Thailand, after winning the first leg in Al Ain 2-0 and losing the second leg 1-0.

The AFC Champions League was created as an alternative to the Asian Club Championship, and over the course of 21 years it has undergone many changes in terms of the number of participating teams, with this being the last edition in its current form.

The Asian Football Confederation announced comprehensive changes in club competitions, especially the elite AFC Champions League, which will be held starting from the 2024-2025 season, to include in its new version 24 teams instead of 40 as is currently the case.

For its part, Yokohoma Marinos, led by its Australian coach, Harry Kewell, aspires to its first title, in its second final, after finishing runner-up in the 1990 edition against Liaoning of China (1-2 and 1-1). Then it was eliminated from the group stage in four consecutive editions and qualified for the final. Final price in 2020 and 2022.

Interesting stages

Al Ain, which is competing in its fourth final after 2003, 2005 and 2016, started the match strongly by opening the scoring, after Moroccan Sofiane Rahimi took advantage of the slow movement of Brazilian defender Eduardo to catch up with the ball, so that the top scorer in the current version (11 goals) was alone and shot; But Yokohama goalkeeper Marinos blocked his shot, which Mohamed Abbas followed into the net, despite Eduardo’s desperate attempt to push it away (12).

The hosts responded with a long shot from Uenaka, taking advantage of Yahya Nader’s passing error. Al Ain goalkeeper Khaled Issa blocked it brilliantly to a corner that reached Katsuya Nagato, who sent it with a cross that hit defender Khaled Al Hashimi and almost deceived Issa, who narrowly blocked it with his foot (26).

Al Ain scored again after a shot by Argentine Matias Palacios. But the goal was canceled after referring to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), due to the UAE team’s midfielder being offside (30).

Issa, who excelled remarkably in the quarter and semi-finals against Al-Nasr and Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia, prevented Yokohama Marinos from returning in the result, after he brilliantly blocked two shots from Takuya Kida (34) and Brazilian Yann Matthews after a corner kick (35).

Eduardo, Yokohama Marinos defender, was out injured (37); The homeowner continued his pressure, and South Korean Nam Tae-hee recklessly shot next to the post (45 + 3).

After many attempts, the home team equalized after a cross from Matthews, which Oyinaka headed past Issa (72).

Oyinaka was credited with his team’s rise to the final after he scored two goals against Ulsan Hyundai, South Korea, in the second leg of the semi-final (5-4 on penalty kicks, 3-2 in regular and extra time).

Matheus returned to score the second goal, after a cross from the Brazilian winger reached substitute Watanabe, who shot it against Al Ain (84).